Myrtle Beach Pavilion
The original pavilion was a wooden structure that adjoined the Seaside Inn, Myrtle Beach’s first hotel, built in 1901. It was used principally for dances during the summer season.
Located at 812 North Ocean Boulevard in the heart of Myrtle Beach, the Myrtle Beach Pavilion Amusement Park’s eleven acres of roller coasters, thrill rides, go-cart tracks, water rides, attractions, arcades, shops, and games have been a tradition for the seaside visitors for generations. Also located at the park is the Attic, Myrtle Beach’s only club for those under the age of twenty-one, where a beachside stage is the backdrop for free concerts and dances sponsored by the Myrtle Beach Pavilion.
The original pavilion was a wooden structure that adjoined the Seaside Inn, Myrtle Beach’s first hotel, built in 1901. It was used principally for dances during the summer season. Owned and operated by Myrtle Beach Farms Company (later Burroughs & Chapin Company), this structure was replaced in 1923 with “an immense new pavilion,” according to the June 19, 1924, Horry Herald, with a restaurant, concession stands, and amusements on the lower floor and a dance floor above.
The pavilion burned in 1944, and the current concrete pavilion and amusement park rides reopened in 1949 just north of the old pavilion’s location. Myrtle Beach Farms made major renovations to the park in 1978, added a new Ferris wheel in 1987, and built a $5 million roller coaster in 2000. One of the notable features of the Myrtle Beach Pavilion is the hand-carved 1912 Herschell-Spillman carousel, which runs to the music of a ca. 1920 German-made Wurlitzer band organ.
Rhyne, Nancy. Touring the Coastal South Carolina Backroads. Winston- Salem, N.C.: John F. Blair, 1992.
